


Father's Day

by Marlingrl



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marlingrl/pseuds/Marlingrl
Summary: Dante reflects on the changes in his life. Set post events of my prior work, Eva's Wish
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a quick one-shot I wrote that takes place after Eva's Wish. Just a little fluff.

**Father’s Day**

Dante walked down the dark street toward the familiar neon glow of Devil May Cry. The job had been a decent one. The enemies, while not terribly powerful, had at least been there in sufficient quantity for a mild workout. The pay had been good too, so he really couldn’t complain.

Alighting the steps, he reached in his pocket for his keys. Pulling them out he selected the correct one and slid it in the lock and turned. The action still felt a little odd to him. He’d lived for decades in the building with the door unlocked-a challenge to any of demon or human blood. But now, now this building was his home-his nest. Now there was something within these walls to protect above all else.

Stepping into the dim office he felt the slide of the wards over his skin. This was another layer of protection he’d added to help guard his family. He reached out with his senses. His demon blood located Lady upstairs. He listened and all was quiet. Hopefully she was asleep. He said a silent prayer this was the case. She’d had so much trouble finding a comfortable position lately that she was getting little rest. A tired Lady was a very grumpy Lady and a very grumpy Lady didn’t bode well for everyone else.

Dante didn’t need his demon senses to locate the other occupant of his home. Lilith was lying on the couch under the stairs on her back, her small arm clutching something to her chest. Her chest rose and fell in deep, easy breaths.

Dante smiled. Lilith had started a few weeks ago sneaking out of bed to wait downstairs for him when he went on missions. It made Lady mad, she wanted her daughter close by in case of danger. Lilith had started waking up in the middle of the night and checking their room. If Dante wasn’t in bed, she would sneak downstairs and wait. He’d caught her doing it a few times when he’d returned but been too wound up to go to bed immediately. He still found it hard to believe sometimes that he’d been so lucky after so much bad luck. He had a mate, a child-a nestling of his own and he never felt more complete.

Padding over to his daughter, he gently lifted her arm. There were two pieces of construction paper that she’d clutched to her chest. He gently removed them. A sparkle caught his eye on the top paper. Moving over to the window he looked at the paper in the bright moonlight. He held a rectangle of red construction paper. At the top in Lilith’s shaky handwriting it read, “To Daddy, Happy Father’s Day”. Below her writing was a drawing of a stick figure Dante assumes would be him. The figure had a crudely drawn jacket, decorated in red glitter. The stick figure was holding something in front of them, a rectangle ending in a point, decorated in silver glitter. His sword maybe, he guessed. The figure stood on a field of glued elbow macaroni. Dante felt a swell of emotion as he looked over the paper. He could feel a second paper behind.

Dante moved the top paper behind the second one and looked. This one was a rectangle of blue construction paper. The top in Lilith’s shaky handwriting read, “To Uncle Vergil, Happy Father’s Day”. Below her handwriting was another stick figure with a jacket-this time decorated in blue glitter and holding another rectangle with a point, decorated with silver glitter. More elbow macaroni was glued below the figure.

Dante grinned, thinking about how Vergil would react to this innocent gift from his daughter. Lilith had started to slightly melt his brother’s wall of ice. He’d even caught a genuine smile or two when Lilith was talking with Vergil. He suspected this gift might touch Vergil since he doubted Nero would give Vergil anything for the holiday and certainly nothing handmade.

Dante walked over to his desk and laid Vergil’s square of construction paper on the desk. He stared at it for a moment. It felt odd in a way. Father’s Day wasn’t a holiday that had held much meaning to the group at Devil May Cry. Dante’s father was gone-likely dead and wasn’t someone he held a lot of affection for. Vergil, while he craved Sparda’s power, didn’t seem to carry much affection for him either. Lady, well that was fairly obvious. Trish didn’t really have a father-suggesting Mundus as a father seemed heinous. Nero, now there was a quagmire. While he and Vergil were trying to connect, it was often painful to watch with the two of them usually ending up with Nero screaming and Vergil shutting down. Now Dante had an opportunity to have this holiday mean something different going forward and he treasured that. He certainly never expected to be a father but now that he was, he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Reaching in the top drawer of his desk, he felt around until he found what he was looking for-a pushpin. Taking Lilith’s drawing, he pinned it to the wall behind his desk. Looking back, he realized the spot he’d hung the picture was facing the gaze of the photo of his mother Eva from his desk. Smiling, Dante picked up Eva’s picture and looked at it. His thoughts drifted to what his mother would think of his life now. He thought she would love and dote on Lilith. His daughter reminded him of his mother in many ways. She was sweet and thoughtful, with a genuine caring about others in a way that reminded him so much of his mother. No doubt his mother would love Lady too. Lady’s strong will and the way that she tempered Dante’s fire would have gained Eva’s respect and love, Dante had no doubt of that. His mother had always hoped her sons would find someone special and have families of their own. Dante had never intended to walk that path, but fate intervened and he was glad it did.

Looking back to his daughter, Dante felt a surge of warmth and love. Putting his mother’s picture down, he crossed the room and scooped up Lilith. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he held her close as he ascended the stairs. Lilith barely stirred-deep in her dreams, she continued to sleep. Pushing open the door to her room, Dante laid her on her bed-surrounded by her plush toys and pulled the covers over her. He stood for a moment and watched her sleep. He felt so many emotions looking at her-love, wonderment, pride and a touch of fear. He wouldn’t trade them for anything. Happy Father’s Day, he thought. Smiling he left Lilith’s room-seeking his bed and his mate, to rest and await the pouncing of his daughter in the morning. He couldn’t wait.


End file.
